4 PROOFS OF A POST-TRIB RAPTURE

The Rapture

While it is not an essential doctrine,
and there are many different interpretations of end times events, it seems
that many, if not most evangelical Christian's I've encountered presume
that the resurrection from the dead and the rapture of the church mentioned
in 1Thess 4:16,17 will occur prior to the tribulation period mentioned
a number of places. Of course most did not derive that opinion from their
own personal Bible study, but rather because other people told them that.
Being skeptical of popular opinion I did my own Bible study on the subject
and have concluded that the Bible teaches an exclusively post-trib resurrection/rapture.

There are only a few verses which
speak directly of the Rapture. However as those verses mention other events
as well which would accompany it's possible to other verses as well of
which those events are spoken to narrow down the possible interpretations.
Of particular interest are three different interpretations.

1. The Partial Rapture TheoryThis idea is that a Rapture occurs
Pre-Trib in which only an elite group of believers get raptured while the
rest suffer through the tribulation to be raptured at the Lord's "third"
coming.

2. The Pre-Trib Rapture TheoryIn this case the whole church gets
raptured Pre-Trib at the Lord's second coming, but some unbelievers get
saved during the tribulation andA. Are Raptured at the Lord's "third"
comingB. Are not raptured at the Lord's
"third" coming, but die sometime during the 1000 year millenial reign,
to be raised after the 1000 yearsC. Are martyred in the tribulation
and are resurrected at the Lord's "third" coming and reign with Christ
1000 years.

3. The Post-Trib Rapture TheoryHere the whole church get's Raptured
at the Lord's second coming which occurs post-trib.

Eliminating the Partial Rapture Theory

While the Partial Rapture Theory
conflicts with a number of verses, perhaps it's easiest to eliminate this
possiblity with one set of verses.

1Thessalonians 4:16,17A. the
Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command,with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,B.
the dead in Christ will rise first.C.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught uptogether with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (The Rapture)

Here Paul was talking to all the Thessalonian
Christians concerning all those Christians who had died. He speaks of no
exceptions here, even including himself ("we"). The truth in these verses
therefore applies to all Christians without exception. So even given the
idea of multiple raptures, this rapture was the one which Paul himself
was anticipating for himself and for the entire church - no exceptions.
This logically eliminates the partial rapture theory - if we believe what
Paul says.

Pre-Trib or Post-Trib?

A. What is the Tribulation?

Attempting to interpret the Bible to distinguish between these we must
first of all define what constitutes the "Tribulation", what verses speak
of the tribulation. Here the verses which speak explicitly of the great
tribulation.

Mt 24:21For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world
until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Rev 7:14"These
are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Those are the only two verses which use the term "great tribulation"
and allude to the same event, thought there are other passages, like Luke
21 which pretty much parallels Matt 24, and some Old Testament passages
particularly in Joel and other minor prophets which parallel revelation,
but these are the only two verse which use the word in the same context.

B. Same or Two Different?

The main issue of interpretation upon which the two points of view are
contingent is whether verses are referring to two events or a single event.
The post-trib idea could be proven Biblical if it can be conclusively shown
that the verses I bring up are referring to the same event.

First it seems reasonable logical that Mt 24:21 and Rev
7:14 are referring to the same event.
Though Matthew 24 speaks of "great tribulation" rather than "THE great
tribulation", it says that the tribulation it is referring to is
the greatest that will ever be. That and given the context of Mt 24, it
seems clear that Jesus is referring to The Great Tribulation. Thus I believe
we can conclusively say that these verses are referring to the same event.

According to Mt 24, what happens AFTER the Great Tribulation? What is
the order of events. And let's compare it with Thess.

Post-Trib Events

Mt 24:29immediately after the tribulation
of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken.Mt 24:30And then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds
of the sky with power and great glory.Mt 24:31And He will send forth
His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together
His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Mt 24:33When you see all these things,
know
that it is near——at the doors!Mt 24:36of that day and hour no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.Mt 24:43,44But know this, that
if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore
you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Mt 24:39,40 so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be
taken and the other left.

Correlation

Rev 1:7
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those
who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because
of him. So shall it be! Amen.

1Thessalonians 4:16,17the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command,withthe voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, the dead in Christ
will rise first.After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up togetherwith them
in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

1Thess 5:1
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,2 for
you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night.3
While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them
suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.4
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise
you like a thief.

1Corinthians 15:51,52
"Listen,
I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the LAST trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will
be changed."

Rev 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices
in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

2Thess 2:1 Concerning
the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,
we ask you, brothers,2
not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter
supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has
already come.3
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come
until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the man doomed to destruction.4 He
will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or
is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself
to be God.

2Thess 1:9
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the
presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power10on
the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled
at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because
you believed our testimony to you.

Proofs of an Exclusively Post-Trib Resurrrection/Rapture

Proof #1:Mt 24:43,44 associates "Thief in the Night" with the post-trib
coming of the Lord
1Thess chapters 4 and 5 associate the "Thief in the night" coming
with the Day of the Lord and with the Rapture which Paul anticipated for
himself and the Thessalonians, were they to live that long.
Now unless there are two "thief in the night" days of the Lord, this
proves not only that there will be a post-trib rapture, but also proves
that there can be no pre-trib rapture, unless we believe Paul and the Thessalonians
are excluded from that resurrection and rapture.
Besides there being no scriptural evidence of two "thief in the night"
days of the Lord, both taking people by surprise, if there were two then
the first would have already alerted people to the circumstances. Thus
it seems reasonable that there could only be one such coming of the Lord.
Thus since there is such a day associated with his post-trib coming in
Mt 24, this disproves a pre-trib rapture.

Proof #2:1Cor 15:51,52 Indicates that there will be a resurrection and
a rapture at the last trumpet.
Paul uses the word "we" indicating that resurrection and rapture will
be that which he and the Corinthians would partake.
The last trumpet in Revelation is the 7th trumpet of Rev 11:15, which
is post-trib.
This disproves the pre-trib rapture, unless we are to believe that
the resurrection corresponding to that rapture would not include the early
church.

Proof #3:2Thess 2 refers to the coming of the Lord in which Paul believed
he and the early Church would be "gathered to him". Notice the phrase "our
being gathered to him".He indicates that their being gathered to
the Lord would not occur until after the antiChrist is revealed and after
the apostacy (Yes it's literally "apostasia" in the Greek) Jesus
alluded to the apostacy in Mt 24:10 "At that
time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other."
And consistent with 2Thess, Jesus continues in Mt 24 by speaking about
the antiChrist, all of which constitute elements of the great tribulation.
Then Jesus speaks of the gathering in Mt 24:31 "And
He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will
gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the
sky to the other." But if Paul was talking about a different gathering
which occurred prior to these events then he would have simply told the
Thessalonians that the reason why they should know that gathering hadn't
occur is because they had not been raptured. This proves that the rapture/resurrection
of which Paul anticipated for himself and the early church would occur
after the tribulation had started, and as such disproves a pre-trib rapture.

Proof #4:The Rapture is associated with "the day of the Lord". (1Thess
5:2 "for you know very well that the day of
the Lord will come like a thief in the night." for example which
corresponds to the rapture mentioned in 1Thess 4:16,17.) But while
I agree that the day referred to may extend over a period of time, there
are verses which indicate certain events to preceed the start of that day.
Notice Joel 2:31 says, "The sun will be turned
to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the LORD." (And Peter quotes this in
Acts 2 as applying to the church) And 2Thess 2:2,3
"not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or
letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord
has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that
day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness
is revealed." Since the raptures occurs on the day of the Lord,
and since the day of the Lord doesn't start until after events associated
with the great tribulation occur - the rebellion/apostacy, the revealing
of the antiChrist, the sun turned to darkness - this disproves the idea
of a pre-trib rapture.

Imminency Issues

One of the main alleged "proofs" of a pre-trib rapture is there are verses
which describe a coming of the Lord as unpredictable. That is:

1Thess 5:2
"the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night"Mt 24:36 "of that day and hour no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

The theory is that if the rapture occurs after the tribulation then
there would be a series of predictable events leading up to it, and therefore
it would not be a surprise. Bur this does not hold, first of all because
there are verses which use those phrases which clearly refer to the post-trib
coming of the Lord. Notice the context of Mt 24:36

Mt 24:30,31 At that time the sign
of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth
will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky,
with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from
one end of the heavens to the other.Mt 24:33When you see all these things,
know
that it is near——at the doors!Mt 24:36of that day and hour no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.Mt 24:43,44But know this, that
if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore
you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.Mt 24:39,40 so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be
taken and the other left.

Here we clearly see that the day which Jesus is referring to occurs after
the great tribulation mention in Mt 24:29, and yet he uses the same
kind of phrase - not knowing that day, and like a thief - which pre-tribbers
allege only could refer to a pre-trib day. Secondly notice that while Paul
describes the day of the Lord as a thief in the night, he also says, "But
you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you
like a thief." 1Thess 5:4 Therefore "thief in the night"
aspect of the coming of the Lord only applies to the unprepared - to those
who don't keep themselves alert.

Despite the fact that the Day of the Lord in which the rapture occurs
comes post-trib it will nonetheless come as a surprise on the unprepared.
But how can it be a surprise? First of all is the strong delusion which
God sends, "God sends them a powerful delusion so
that they will believe the lie."2Thess 2:11 Secondly
Jesus mentions in Luke 21:34"Be on guard,
so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness
and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like
a trap."

Wrath Issues

Another argument made by those who prefer the pre-trib rapture theory is
that since the events in the tribulation are allegedly all associated with
God's wrath, and since believers are not subject to God's wrath, therefore
the rapture must occur prior to the tribulation.

First of all of course it can be pointed out that there are Christians
of all generations who have been subjected to the kinds of suffering associated
with the great tribulation. There have been Christians tortured to death
for their faith. And there have been Christians who have died in natural
disasters, which God may have been brought about because of the sinfulness
of a society. So it has already been proven as historical fact that Christians
may in fact suffer as innocent victims things which are associated with
God's wrath, as well as of course being subject to persecution.

Secondly even the pre-trib theory acknowledges that there are genuine
believers - yes even preachers of the gospel - who live through the tribulation,
who allegedly became believers after that alleged pre-trib rapture. But
this disproves their very contention - that genuine believers don't live
through the tribulation. If believers are not subject to God's wrath, then
neither are those who become believers during the tribulation subject to
God's wrath.